Sony is readying a big push on one of its bigger holiday releases, starting with a fan favorite by announcing that it will release Gravity Rush 2 for PlayStation 4 on December 2. The game features a heroine named Kat and her companion, Raven (who happens to be a cat), as she battles enemies using her special power: manipulating gravity so that sides of buildings and ceilings turn into walkable platforms. The game is the follow-up to Gravity Rush Remastered, which released for the PlayStation 4 in February, adapted from the PlayStation Vita version.
While Sony is still riding high on the success of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, that isn’t keeping it from promoting this particular cult-favorite game in an innovative way, as it’s working on an anime program that will tie in with it.
Titled Gravity Rush: The Animation—Overture, the series will focus on Kat’s misadventures between the first game and the second. It’s being put together by Studio Khara, the same team responsible for the popular Japanese anime Rebuild of Evangelion. The series is expected to release before Gravity Rush 2 comes out in an effort to build up hype for the sequel.
Considering how fans are enjoying a variety of anime programs at the moment, including the dozens available across services like Netflix and CrunchyRoll, the tie-in for a program with Gravity Rush is a solid idea. Plus, it’s a tactic that’s been quite successful for other companies in the past that have released animated programs alongside game releases.
For instance, Electronic Arts released separate home video movies to coincide with their Dead Space and Mass Effect titles, with both Dead Space: Downfall and Mass Effect: Paragon Lost getting strong reception from fans. In addition, Sega promoted its heroine Bayonetta with her own Japanese anime film, Bloody Fate, which got equally positive reviews on its release back in 2013 while bringing the star back into the spotlight as Nintendo prepared to launch Bayonetta 2.
It’s a move that helps flesh out the characters and worlds to new players while generating interest in the games. Considering the game’s art style and presentation, it seems right at home for a Japanese anime-style program.
Those who pre-order the game will also have access to other Gravity Rush-based goodies, including bonus costumes for Kat and a nine-track soundtrack—giving players something more to indulge in besides the anime.
For the first time, China has climbed to the #1 spot for iOS mobile game revenue, surpassing the US and Japan in the second quarter of 2016. According to analytics firm, App Annie, China’s sudden domination is attributed to the explosive popularity of multiplayer collaborative games in the region. Although the rise of the Chinese market to global leader was impressive compared to the last two years, it’s not exactly surprising. In fact, in a March report, App Annie predicted that the mobile gaming market would top $10 billion in 2016, and eventually reach $13.9 billion by 2019.
Together, China, the US and Japan are responsible for approximately 75 percent of gaming revenue on the iOS platform, with gaming as the single largest revenue driver. China alone nearly doubled the iOS App Store games revenue it had just a year earlier in second quarter of 2015.
So, which games are responsible for this huge leap in revenue? According to the report, locally developed games were responsible for a large portion of the year-over-year growth. Specifically, massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) dominate the Chinese mobile market. As evidenced in a May report by Newzoo, NetEase’s Fantasy Westward Journey is the only game to remain in the top ten since June 2015, while Fantasy Westward Journey 2 climbed back to number two in June, followed by Tencent’s King of Glory at number three. Fantasy Westward Journey 2 launched last October and the franchise consistently sits atop the App Store in the world’s biggest mobile market. While foreign publishers have seen success in the country, local publishers dominate the top iOS revenue chart. Tencent alone claimed about 45 percent of Chinese Android revenues in May, publishing 23 of the top 100 titles.
There was hope for foreign publishers, with Supercell’s Clash Royale ranking at number 10 by iOS revenue in the second quarter of 2016. However, now that Tencent owns Supercell, brands outside of China will have to get creative or establish strategic partnerships to increase brand awareness within the region.
The company detailed on its blog how VR technology will be utilized greatly not only for creators and storytellers, but also advertisers. Google noted that global search interest for virtual reality has increased nearly four times within the last year, gaining larger interest in the general market. Of course, a majority of that is consumers looking to get more out of the technology, whether it’s with games, apps or other immersive programs.
“The promise of VR is what the industry calls ‘presence’—the feeling that you’re really somewhere else,” wrote Aaron Luber, head of partnerships for VR at Google and author of the blog post. This “presence” can help immerse users into a new technology, whether they utilize the cheaper Cardboard model, or wait to see what the company has to offer when Daydream launches this fall.
“At Google, Cardboard was our first step toward this future. Soon, our VR platform Daydream will enable even more powerful, mobile, high-quality experiences with a headset that’s comfortable at an accessible price.” Luber also mentioned the company’s promise to create more powerful apps with this tech in mind, including Google Play, Maps and YouTube.
Google is heavily promoting the use of 360-degree video on YouTube, which is utilized not only for viewing on desktops and laptops, but also with virtual reality headsets. Immersive experiences like the School of Rock video have helped push a diverse way to view content through a number of devices.
Of course, nothing promotes VR and AR quite like games, so Google has announced its first Indie Games Festival, which will take place on September 24 in San Francisco. With it, the company hopes to attract hundreds of submissions from Android developers that hope to reaching consumers through Google’s devoted channels, including Amazing Indie Games and New Indie Highlights. In addition to traditional mobile games, developers may be excited to show off what they can do with technologies such as the Tango device and Daydream.
Google has already reached out to these talents before on its devoted Developers page, but the Festival will provide them the ability to showcase new games at a public event, which could mean good news not only for promoting the new Android N platform, but also generating bigger buzz in both Tango hardware and Daydream.
Luber concluded the blog entry by addressing common concerns about virtual reality, such as what kind of experience it will provide. It will bee able to “transport people to a place, immerse them in a world and compel them to explore.” As to providing a better feel for the consumers, VR will allow them to see “items in real size and form when shopping online.” Lastly, when providing something beyond a “that’s cool” sort of moments, Luber suggests a “compelling hook” to keep users engaged.
Those little faces and icons—emoji, as they call ’em—are everywhere. From text messaging to emails to Kim Kardashian’s cleavage through Kimoji, and now, marketing. Brands are turning to the age-old tradition of communication through symbols to reach their customers on an emotional level.
Recently, Pepsi created an entire campaign around the idea, and L’Oreal created their own keyboard for beauty enthusiasts. Volvo used a combination of emoji and photos to tease its latest model on Snapchat, using a casual tone to build hype around the brand. Disney Interactive, meanwhile, has integrated the expressive power of character-themed emoji into a new game.
While marketers may not hesitate to insert a smiley face into their inter-office chat or text message to mom, the idea of using an emoji to communicate with customers may seem inappropriate. To find out how consumers respond to those little faces, research firm Appboy surveyed over 500 individuals about their perception.
In general, people respond well to emoji-based marketing. The poll found that overall, 52 percent find their use to be fun or relatable. However, it’s important to note the remaining 47 percent of those surveyed range from a resounding “meh” to downright disgusted. As always, the use of a popular marketing tactic comes down to knowing the target audience. For example, those surveyed over 45 years of age were the most opposed to emoji messaging in ads, while those between the ages of 25 and 44 find them to be the most fun.
Appboy’s study found that active marketing campaigns containing emoji have increased by 557 percent year-over-year. While brands are jumping onto the smiley-face hype as if it were a Botox clinic in Beverly Hills, the question, as always, will be return on investment.
Conversion rates associated with emoji messaging campaigns have also increased 135 percent during that time, according to the report, “though other factors beyond the use of emojis could potentially be impacting the number of conversions produced by individual campaigns.” While early attempts at the marketing tactic were more of a shotgun effect, brands are paying more attention to who these messages are being sent to. “[The conversion rate] suggests that brands are increasingly taking advantage of segmentation and message targeting to deliver messages with emojis to customers who are likely to be interested in receiving them,” Todd Grennan, senior content producer at Appboy, notes in the study.
So, why do customers respond to emoji? They’re casual, universally understood and easy to use in everyday conversation. On a scientific level, the human brain has adapted to recognize type-based emoticons much in the same way as a real-life facial expression.
According to a recent study published in the journal Social Neuroscience, looking at faces crafted from colons and parentheses can trigger the same facial recognition response in the brain that takes place when we read the subtle expressions of another human.
Could picture emoji be the next step in facial recognition? “There is no innate neural response to emoticons that babies are born with. Before 1982 there would be no reason that ‘:-)’ would activate face sensitive areas of the cortex but now it does because we’ve learnt that this represents a face,” researcher Owen Churches told Australia’s ABC. “This is an entirely culturally-created neural response. It’s really quite amazing.”
Who will dominate the lucrative mobile game market? According to a new report by Newzoo, the top four publishers have remained completely unchanged since 2015, with Supercell, King, Tencent and Machine Zone still dominating app stores around the globe.
US Market
Games catering to the midcore market top the iOS revenue charts, with Game of War: Fire Age stealing the top spot from Clash of Clans and new entry, Mobile Strike sitting at number two. King Digital’s Candy Crush Saga is still “crushing it” at number three, holding its position from 2015 while Candy Crush Soda Saga dropped down to number five. While Supercell’s Clash Royale claimed the number one spot when it launched in March, the title dropped to number eight in June.
Of the top 10 grossing games in the US for June, there were only two new titles to hit the charts compared to 2015: Mobile Strike and Clash Royale.
Chinese Market
China is set to reach a $10 billion mobile games market this year. Tencent and NetEase are by far the most dominant publishers in China, earning about five times as much as the number three publisher. Tencent alone claimed about 45 percent of Chinese Android revenues in May, publishing 23 of the top 100 titles. King of Glory, a popular MOBA mobile game, continues to be the company’s top-performing title in terms of revenues while the most-installed game by the publisher is Happy Lord. Newzoo predicts that Tencent will climb even further in the coming months, following its recent acquisition of Supercell and Clash Royale’s release on the WeChat platform.
Mobile MMOs are the most popular games on the Chinese market, although top 10 charts fluctuate much more in this region than in the West. NetEase’s Fantasy Westward Journey is the only game to remain in the top ten since June 2015, while Fantasy Westward Journey 2 climbed back to number two in June, followed by Tencent’s King of Glory at number three. Fantasy Westward Journey 2 launched last October and the franchise consistently sits atop the App Store in the world’s biggest mobile market.
European Market
Supercell currently dominates the European iOS charts, with Clash Royale still claiming the number one position and Clash of Clans at number two, knocking King Digital down a notch. Supercell’s other hit titles, Hay Day and Boom Beach are also holding their top ten positions, making Supercell the number one grossing publisher in Europe.
Global Market
Since June 2015, there have been only two new publishers in the global top ten grossing ranking: NetEase and Epic War, a subsidiary of Machine Zone. Combined revenues on iOS of both Epic War and Machine Zone in June puts the company in second place position, directly behind Supercell. Epic War’s Mobile Strike, fronted by Hollywood icon Arnold Schwarzenegger, has taken the app store by storm since its release in July 2015.
The company has announced that it will be launching a mini collector’s edition NES, based on its original Nintendo Entertainment System console from 1985, this holiday season. Due to arrive on November 11th, the system will come with 30 pre-packaged games installed, as well as an HDMI cable, an AC adapter and one NES Classic Controller, selling for $59.99. Additional controllers will also be available for purchase at $9.99 each, ideal for two-player based games like Bubble Bobble and Super C.
While the system won’t make use of classic NES cartridges (as several knock-off consoles on the market currently do), it’ll offer more than enough 8-bit goodness for players to enjoy, including many original Nintendo games along with a variety of titles licensed through Square Enix, Koei Tecmo, Capcom and more.
“We wanted to give fans of all ages the opportunity to revisit Nintendo’s original system and rediscover why they fell in love with Nintendo in the first place,” said Nintendo of America president and COO, Reggie Fils-Aimé. “The Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition is ideal for anyone who remembers playing the NES, or who wants to pass on those nostalgic memories to the next generation of gamers.”
Players will also be able to use the NES Classic Controller for playing old-school Virtual Console games on the Wii and Wii U game systems.
Fans have been clamoring for the system on social media since its announcement earlier this morning, taking to Twitter and Facebook and insisting that they’re going to buy it.
WOW Nintendo is re-releasing the NES in a mini edition and with 30 built in games?!? Sold. pic.twitter.com/WFh0U5StrS
Nintendo should have no trouble making the mini NES into a bestseller for the holiday season, for two primary reasons:
Price: Whereas most game hardware these days sells around the $300-$400 range, the mini NES is priced to move at $59.99. And since it includes an HDMI cable, that makes it instantly compatible with current televisions.
Nostalgia: Nintendo wisely mixed up the selection of games included with the mini NES, including a few third-party favorites that were popularized on the original console. Additionally, having the two original Zelda games installed may help further promote The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for both new and existing fans of the series.
The games included on the system are:
Balloon Fight
Bubble Bobble
Castlevania
Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong Jr.
Double Dragon II: The Revenue
Dr. Mario
Excitebike
Final Fantasy
Galaga
Ghosts ‘n Goblins
Gradius, Ice Climber
Kid Icarus
Kirby’s Adventure
Mario Bros.
Mega Man 2
Metroid
Ninja Gaiden
Pac-Man
Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream
StarTropics
Super C
Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros. 2
Super Mario Bros. 3
Tecmo Bowl
The Legend of Zelda
Zelda II: The Adventures of Link
It seems that the “power” of the original NES, as shown in the commercial below, has faded little in over thirty years.
For years, the NPD Group has issued monthly reports detailing video game software, hardware and accessory sales, showing the growth and decline of the industry. However, the one missing feature is how those reports didn’t cover digital sales made on services such as Steam, Xbox Live or the PlayStation Network, which make up a very significant (and growing) part of video game revenues. But that will soon change, as the NPD Group recently announced the launch of its Digital Game Tracking Service, developed in partnership with major publishers that include Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Take-Two Interactive, Square Enix, Capcom, Deep Silver and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. NPD has been tracking the digital sales data from these publishers for the past several years to get a more comprehensive look at the video game industry, which will be shown in this month’s report.
There are still a few limitations. Specifically, major publishers such as Microsoft, Sony, Bethesda and Nintendo are not part of the group. Furthermore, data regarding DLC transactions will not immediately be released to the media, pending refinement. Nevertheless, this is still an important step toward seeing the bigger picture.
Liam Callahan, executive director and games industry analyst at the NPD Group, talked to [a]listdaily about the Digital Game Tracking Service and what might be in store for the future.
Liam Callahan, executive director and analyst at NPD Group
How difficult was it for NPD to develop the Digital Game Tracking Service?
It was certainly a long journey in that it took us several years to recruit publishers and even to determine that a publisher source methodology was the right path for us to reach this goal. Then we were in beta for several years. So it was certainly difficult in the sense that it took a long time getting publishers to the comfort level they’ve reached now—to go with us on this journey—and reveal data in the public domain.
Were publishers supportive of developing the Digital Game Tracking Service?
Generally, we have a great representation of some of the key publishers in the industry, and we are continuing to talk to non-participants to further flesh out the service. We’ll continue to engage with those folks. I think the list [of publishers] really speaks for itself. We received a lot of strong support, and I think part of that was the benefit of having publishers have access to this data over a beta period so they could understand that this was an important thing to move forward with—that it was an important data set that could help them with their business. That was all part of the process.
Does the Digital Game Tracking Service take into account events such as major discounts from digital retailers?
Yes, it takes into account any sort of discount. It’s the real data, so any kind of promotional activity or temporary price reduction is part of the methodology. Same thing with our physical side. Whatever the price is when somebody buys it, that’s the data that we have.
Data regarding add-on content won’t be released to the media yet. What are the challenges involved with tracking DLC sales?
The reasoning behind us not releasing it has nothing to do with challenges from a data perspective. We’re coding the data properly, and we have that data in-house. It’s a matter, first, of how we want to have a bit more comprehensive participation before DLC is ready for prime time. Second is just the comfort level with the panelists. Panelists moved to a point where they felt full game downloads combined with physical was the right first step.
That’s the first step we’re taking now, and hopefully over time, we can get to the point where there’s comfort with also releasing DLC. We’ve had many other steps, but this is the first one we’ve talk about publically, and we’re going to see many more steps and move further along.
In addition to including more publishers, how do you see the digital tracking service evolving in the future?
For me, I think there’s an opportunity to develop robust projection methodology. Part of the plan is to have something in place that accounts for non-participants, much like we do on the physical side, and having that be the gold standard for digital tracking—just as much as our physical data in the US is considered the gold standard in terms of its accuracy and representation of the full market. We have a lot of things we’re evaluating, and we knew it would take a while to get there. We wanted to take that first step, and we understand it’s a partial set, but it’s a highly accurate set in terms of having all the data from those participants. Those participants represent a wide variety in terms of the size of publisher and content.
Then, as I mentioned, getting to a comfort level where DLC goes for long-term. I think NPD in general will go where the trends go. We will go where our clients want us to go, which is constantly a conversation with our clients to understand the things that they think are important from a tracking perspective.
I’d rather not be super-precise about it because it’s a dynamic industry. You have to be flexible on what you may do at step 3 or 4 because whatever that might be might not even be in existence right now. If you think about DLC and some of the free-to-play mechanics we’ve seen evolve over the last few years, they weren’t in place to the degree they are now a number of years ago. So some of it is being flexible, understanding that the industry changes, and we have to adapt and change along with that. That’s how we think the service, and our research products in general, will continue to grow and evolve.
How long do you think it will be before we can see the big picture in regards to consoles, PC games and DLC sales?
Honestly, I can’t put a timeframe on that. Some things may happen quickly, and getting to certain areas of gaming to participate may take longer. Incentives might be different for certain panelists. It’s about recruiting, and it’s about projecting and having something in place that accounts for everything. That’s our near-term goal. I can’t really say how long that will take because those things are moving targets.
Do you think that someday independent developers like Riot Games and Psyonix may want to participate in the Digital Game Tracking Service? What would be the incentive?
Yes, I think that we’ll continue to grow the panel to get independent developers and really big free-to-play guys like Riot. I think the incentive for them is to understand what’s going on in the marketplace outside of their own business, understand different business models, franchises and types of games—to use that for planning anything that has to do with their business decisions. And I think it’s very much like the incentive to have questions answered that you wouldn’t have otherwise.
But if you drill in more to the physical side of things, I think the reasons you get with our physical business are the same reasons and conversations we had with publishers on the digital side about the value of the data. Namely, understanding your competitors, understanding the pace and size of digital, how quickly it’s growing, and how big it really is.
I think there’s something very unique in digital regarding DLC. It’s something, if you consider the grand scope of video games, that is relatively new. And I think there is a lot of learning that is still taking place, such as how to maximize it, how to roll-out DLC, and even taking the kind of durable map pack and mod driven model (which still works for many games) and moving it toward a consumable model—where currency is something that’s popular. How that dynamic takes place? What are the pros and cons? That’s something that’s an incentive for someone to join because they’ll be able to see things beyond their own data to understand the bigger picture. I think that’s the point of this data—and really, any research is sort of to get that competitive information and that bigger picture, and then make better decisions about your business going forward.
Twitch is an ideal service not only for livestreamers to broadcast their favorite games, but also developers and publishers that work with these influencers to showcase different titles. But how closely Twitch correlates with a game’s success has largely been a matter of guessing until now.
The company recently shared a report compiled by Twitch data scientist Danny Hernandez, who discussed the analytics behind the successes. He began by explaining how a Twitch community grew for a little-known title three years ago called Hearthstone, which would eventually become one of Blizzard’s most popular titles, generating $250 million this year alone.
Smaller publishers and developers are benefitting from Twitch livestreams. Hernandez discussed how some players get into a game by watching someone else play it on Twitch first, then purchasing it. “Twitch provides the most authentic preview of a game you’ll find on the Internet,” he explained, as opposed to game trailers that simply showcase features.
Hernandez noted how indie titles like Punch Club and The Culling saw a small percentage of their sales attributed to Twitch broadcasts and influencers giving them recommendations. Not only that, but major titles such as Tom Clancy’s The Division from Ubisoft saw a near 20 percent boost thanks to Twitch broadcasts.
Some Twitch broadcasts come before a game even launches, with developers providing the game to influencers ahead of time to build buzz around it. That’s exactly what the team at tinyBuild did for Punch Club, but with a twist. It hosted a Twitch Plays presentation where viewers could input commands into the chat for the player to perform—very similar to Twitch Plays Pokémon, except with a live player. As a result, the company found a community of fans who loved the game.
“Within six weeks, 1.2 million viewers watched Punch Club on Twitch,” noted Hernandez. “The viewing experience was so compelling that 2.8 percent of Steam-connected viewers went on to buy the game.
A large number of sales are also attributed to those with larger concurrent viewer counts. About 46 percent of the games with referred sales had between 33 and 33,333 concurrent viewers, although some with only zero to three also gained a good deal of interest. “Mid-tier broadcasters convert views into purchases 13 times more effectively than top-tier broadcasters, and small broadcasters convert views into purchases 1,000 times more effectively than top-tier broadcasters,” said Hernandez.
Retention also makes a difference with a game’s success, since “products that can’t retain users stop growing and eventually disappear.”
These numbers indicate that some games get a boost from players continuing to take part in them on Twitch, including Valve’s competitive multiplayer shooter, Team Fortress 2, along with the free-to-play Path of Exile—both of which have a high number of viewing fans. Other games, such as Dota 2 and Call of Duty: Black Ops III, have a strong retention rate that’s mainly due to the offering of new content.
Twitch plays a huge part with players and retention, with 82 percent of viewers indicating that they watched player channels to some extent to keep interest in the game, compared to the 77 percent that didn’t with certain games.
Danny Hernandez sat down with [a]listdaily to talk more about the report’s results.
What do you think is the biggest draw factor when it comes to an indie game finding success on Twitch?
The biggest draw for any game on Twitch finding success is being compelling. It might sound obvious, but there are other mediums where a less compelling game can have significant buzz based on trailers that show selective gameplay footage. Twitch makes it super clear what the actual gameplay looks like and how much fun the broadcaster is having. Because of this, Twitch makes it much more achievable for great indie games to find their audience without a huge marketing budget.
Do mid-tier influencers make a big difference in a game’s long-term success?
Based on my research, mid-tier broadcasters convert views into purchases 13 times more effectively than top-tier broadcasters, so they are definitely a key part of the equation. I also view the intimate nature of mid-sized influencer channels as being critical in forming communities that retain players. This, in turn, translates to long-term success.
Retention really seems to make a difference with some games on Twitch. What do you think it is that keeps players coming back?
Games provide long-term value to their players in a variety of ways. For example, eSports leverage other players to keep things fresh, survival games exhilarate broadcasters and audiences with high stakes and fear, and sandbox/modable games leverage the unending desire of players to create.
Content is king, but while content is frequently viewed as what is happening on the screen, we’ve learned that the chat is also a form of content. If the broadcaster frequently engages with their community, things the community suggests or comments on in chat can and frequently do impact the choices a broadcaster makes, thus creating content that otherwise might not have existed if chat were disabled. The community in chat also can impact engagement based on how they interact with new viewers. For example, if the chat regulars are overtly welcoming and social, visitors are more compelled to stick around with a goal of joining that community. At the end of the day, there is no shortcut to success on Twitch, but a myriad of ways to achieve it.
A new report from AppsFlyer has broken down the success of Apple’s App Store, which has managed to reach $71 billion in app revenue to date—though the majority of profits aren’t coming from in-app purchases.
The report, titled “State of In-App Spending,” looked at over 100 million users across over 1,000 different apps to tally up its totals, and based on what was found, more revenue was made from in-app revenue and paid applications, instead of in-app ads.
The chart below shows just how much numbers has changed over the years. In 2011, paid-for applications dominated the Apple App Store by well over 75 percent. However, this year, it’s dwindled to under 50 percent, with the rest being made up by in-app purchases and advertising. That said, even though in-app ads have dropped into the minority, they’ve continued to show an increase over the years, and will continue to slightly bump up going into 2017.
“Our data showed that only about 3.5 percent of gamers spend money in-app, but those users are big spenders, spending 30 times more than the average gamer (paying and non-paying) with $9.39 vs. $0.32 a month per gaming app,” the report states.
The report noted that “the average global paying user spends $9.60 a month per app, which is 20 times more than the average user.” That said, it also noted that only about 5 percent of app users make purchases overall—a very small minority of overall users.
Another chart breaks down the monthly in-app spend per user for April and May 2016, with more being spent on iOS. All users spent around $1.08 per month, while the average purchase is around $12.77—that’s more than double the $6.19 spent on the Android platform, across the $.43 spent by all users.
Breaking numbers down by region, Asia continues to be the defining leader when it comes to monthly in-app spend and average purchases per user, with $.70 per user and $10.65 per average purchase. North America is close behind with $.61 for all users and $8.68 average purchase, close to the global average.
The report also made note in specific categories, with shopping apps leading the charge. The average monthly in-app spend in this category is $2.68—well over two and a half times the $.32 spent on gaming apps. (Keep in mind that most of them are free-to-play.)
“As app developers lay out their development, marketing and engagement strategies, it is critical for them to understand the differences in in-app spending behaviors across different platforms, geographic regions and app categories,” said Ran Avrahamy, AppsFlyer’s vice president of marketing. “Our data shows that in-app spending continues to present a significant opportunity for app publishers and marketers. While only a small portion of app users actually spend money on in-app purchases, app developers and marketers can capitalize by ensuring they always offer an optimal in-app experience, and by constantly measuring and optimizing their activities in order to build a strong base of loyal, valuable users.”
The team at Twitch continues to ramp up excitement for its second annual TwitchCon convention, taking place September 30 through October 2 at the San Diego Convention Center.
Along with announcing over 70 panels presenting at the event—as well as musical talent Darude (an all-time favorite among Twitch streamers), who will be headlining at the annual TwitchCon party—the company is also looking to establish a stronger presence with the business side of things with the introduction of a new industry track.
“TwitchCon 2016 is expanding its focus to include an industry track related to the business and development of video games and livestreaming,” the company noted in an announcement. “This track brings together Twitch broadcasters and staff members to share insights on building a compelling game for Twitch broadcasting and doing business on the Twitch platform.
“Panel topics include creating compelling stream-friendly content for a game, the art of a successful marketing campaign, intro to the Twitch API, building an eSports game, and how to work with broadcasters.”
Various Twitch talents will be hosting these presentations, including Ellohime and OMGitsFirefoxx, among others.
Twitch has already proven that business partnerships can work wonders with channels such as Old Spice’s Nature Adventure (where users commanded a live person to perform actions in the game) and an eSports partnership with Coca-Cola. And the network has diversified its content, which includes airing classic episodes of Bob Ross’s The Joy of Painting and Julia Child’s The French Chef, which drew thousands of viewers to its channels.
Amy Brady, Twitch’s director of global events, explained to [a]listdaily why an industry track is being featured at this year’s TwitchCon. “After last year’s TwitchCon, we discovered that a lot of members from the games industry were in attendance, many of which had questions about how to better understand working with our community,” said Brady. “To help facilitate that dialogue, we tapped key influencers, brands and staff to introduce an industry track at TwitchCon 2016 where we will be taking a deeper dive into the topics that surfaced the most.”
